VCST Belgium unites for a good cause

25 March, 2020

For a number of years, VCST Belgium have been taking part in a yearly cycling event to raise funds in the fight against cancer. In order to raise funds to participate in the event, our colleagues have set up a number of activities, supported by volunteers. One of our colleagues was particularly creative as he has decided to sell his home-made beer and dedicate his profits to the inscription fee for the good cause. Initiatives don’t come more Belgian than that.

The good cause

The NGO that organises the cycling event is called “Rise up against cancer” (Dutch: Kom op tegen kanker). Rise up against cancer raises money for cancer research cancer and for investment in patient care. The cycling event (1000 kilometres for rise up against cancer) takes place in May every year in four stages and to sign up, a team consisting of a maximum of 8 cyclists is needed. Each stage is 250 kilometres long and has the city of Mechelen as its starting and finishing point. The difference between the stages is that every day, a different province is visited. This year, one of our colleagues at VCST Belgium has been able to persuade the mayor of Sint-Truiden, where VCST is based, to make his city a stop-over on one of the stages.

VCST’s knights of the road

For a fair number of years, VCST have been present at the event with multiple teams. Usually, our colleagues raise funds to sign up one team, VCST then provides the funds for a second team. The funds are raised through events such as hiking tours, quiz nights, waffle and Christmas flower sales or a flash mob by the VCST ladies. This year, though, funds were raised by our colleagues for a third team as well. It goes without saying that initiatives such as this one are greatly important for the involvement within our organisation. The activities that are set up allow us to get to know one another under different circumstances, away from work. And naturally, the big cycling event at the end is very beneficial for the team spirit among our colleagues.

Beer for a good cause

In a particularly original initiative, one of our colleagues has decided to sell his home-made beer locally to contribute to the inscription fee of one of the teams. Our colleague, Yves, is part of the beer guild of Hoegaarden, a village with a long-established tradition of brewing beer. One day, Yves was invited by his neighbour for a brewing seminar organised by the beer guild’s chairman. It proved to be such a fun experience that Yves decided to make his own brewing installation.

The beer he made is called Moutgaarden Clementus and is based on the basic recipe of a beer that was brewed for the 80th birthday of one of Belgium’s most famous brewers. Yves and his friends modified the basic recipe and finetuned the final product to end up with what is now Moutgaarden Clementus. It is a blond beer that is comparable to beers such as La Chouffe or Karmeliet. Apart from making chocolates or french fries, this must be the most Belgian initiative imagineable.